Brown v. Simmons

¶4RILEY, Circuit Judge.

¶5Jim Brown (Brown), a teacher, filed a complaint alleging James Simmons, the superintendent of the Conway (Arkansas) Public School District, infringed Brown’s procedural due process rights by denying Brown a name-clearing hearing after Brown was stigmatized by defamatory statements made by other school officials. In other words, Brown filed a “stigma plus” claim.1 The district court2 dismissed Brown’s complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We affirm.

¶6We review de novo the dismissal of a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Botten v. Shorma, 440 F.3d 979, 980 (8th Cir.2006). We accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and grant every reasonable inference in favor of the nonmovant. Knieriem v. Group Health Plan, Inc., 434 F.3d 1058, 1060 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.—, 126 S.Ct. 2969, 165 L.Ed.2d 952 (2006). To state a claim upon which relief can be granted, each element of the claim must be pled in the complaint. See Dura Pharm., Inc. v. Broudo, 544 U.S. 336, 346-47, 125 S.Ct. 1627, 161 L.Ed.2d 577 (2005); Penn v. Iowa State Bd. of Regents, 999 F.2d 305, 307 (8th Cir.1993).

¶7Defaming a governmental employee’s reputation, good name, honor, or integrity in connection with terminating the employee, without giving the employee a name-clearing hearing, is a deprivation of the employee’s constitutionally protected liberty interest. Winskowski v. City of Stephen, 442 F.3d 1107, 1109-10 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.—, 127 S.Ct. 435, 166 L.Ed.2d 308 (2006); see Bd. of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 573, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). To state a “stigma plus” claim, the employee must allege: (1) an official made a defamatory statement that resulted in a stigma; (2) the defamatory statement occurred during the course of terminating the employee; (3) the defamatory statement was made public, Mascho v. Gee, 24 F.3d 1037, 1039 (8th Cir.1994); and (4) an alteration or extinguishment of a right or legal status, Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 711, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976).

¶8Here, Brown’s complaint failed to allege any alteration or extinguishment of a right or legal status.3 Because Brown *924did not allege each element of his “stigma plus” claim, Brown failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Dura Pharm., 544 U.S. at 346-47, 125 S.Ct. 1627; Penn, 999 F.2d at 307. Injury to a person’s reputation alone is not sufficient to trigger the procedural protections of the due process clause. Paul, 424 U.S. at 701-02, 706, 709-10, 96 S.Ct. 1155; Gunderson v. Hvass, 339 F.3d 639, 644 (8th Cir.2003).

¶9Therefore, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Brown’s complaint.